Good piece. I greatly appreciate the relatively balanced, very well-informed, and refreshingly facts-based info that Gabe provides. His views do not always align with mine, but there is so much good info in his reporting that I don't see elsewhere that I'm very willing to skip over the occasional embedded opinion I don't share. I don't read just to hear myself anyway. Thanks, Gabe.
Good analysis of the current situation and policy matters. But the Democrats' REAL job at this point is to force the Republicans to take unpopular-with-voters stances, and to do so as close to the election as possible. Ruining Thanksgiving lost out to voting repeatedly against health insurance subsidies, which one or a couple more shutdowns next year could force.
A well crafted and informative piece that was fun to read.
A couple of points:
You stated
"And we also know that Trump is more politically savvy (and less ideologically stringent) than Thune or Johnson: just as he has moderated his party’s position on abortion and Medicare and Social Security cuts out of fear of being punished by voters, it wasn’t insane to think that Trump might see the very lopsided polling in favor of Obamacare subsides and tell Republicans to screw their principles and strike a deal.”
Actually it is/was quite insane. You clearly mis-read Trump, as is the wont of Dem supporting media, whether Legacy or otherwise, and their irritated AntiTrump supporters. Trump hates Obama , if from no other perspective than his ego. Of course ObamaCare is a mild disaster having failed to deliver on affordability and promises to provide insurance for the majority of uninsured Americans. ( The numbers initially went from 30 plus million uninsured to mid-teens only to creep above 27 million under Biden. The increase in the cost of medical insurance and care are primarily the result of a level of middle-men created and financed by the financialization crowd which increase costs as the middle men distributors dip their beak repeatedly). Moreover once air travel and feeding the poor became stark realities Trump was required to dig in and win.
AS to Mass Rep(D) Seth Moulton , he’s down 50 points to Markey, who even a Lesser Kennedy could not defeat. He’s no measure of what will happen, only of political expediency and desperation. But your point is well taken-How will the generational divide in the Dem party play out? An accomodation between the Left/Youth wing and the Elders or an internal bloodbath that negatively impacts the races in ’26 and ’28. Based on 50 years of Dem party history it’s reasonable (not insane?) to expect the latter.
Finally, as to January’s political landscape. Please remember that Trump is in charge and is the biggest wild card factor. Next to Ukraine which, thanks to the neocon con men and women , is highly likely to be an even greater conflagration as the EU and Zelensky press for evermore ammo and guns and death to avoid a Russian invasion of Europe( which makes no sense-the West wants Russia’s natural resources, the Russians just want a buffer between them and the neocon West).
This fully predictable Democratic rout on election day was achieved on their home court. If they had lost ANY of the races it would have been astonishing,
But where’s the fun if you can’t bouy your flagging and fragmented party faithful with a bit of (insane?) optimism ?
My understanding is that the unaffordability of the ACA was due to stripping out of the mandate that required all Americans to have health insurance. When that was removed healthy young people tended to forgo health insurance entirely. In other words the pool of people buying the insurance was sicker thus driving up premiums. As originally designed it would have been quite affordable. It's pretty clear by now that the only solution is either a return of the mandate or some version of socialized medicine.
I believe the shutdown contributed to the Dems having a good election night last week. It showed voters that Dems were willing to fight, at least for awhile. We can't discount that. That's a win the shutdown helped to achieve.
Good piece. I greatly appreciate the relatively balanced, very well-informed, and refreshingly facts-based info that Gabe provides. His views do not always align with mine, but there is so much good info in his reporting that I don't see elsewhere that I'm very willing to skip over the occasional embedded opinion I don't share. I don't read just to hear myself anyway. Thanks, Gabe.
Thank you, Jessie!
Good analysis, thanks for the historical context.
Great analysis, thanks!
phenomenal piece!
It’s all about the message. The message is the economy. The group of the Snap recipients losing benefits are part of the left behinds
A week or so ago the Dems were given a chance if they can stay on message. Again the message is the economy
The Dems were never going to get any movement on ACA. But now they can get a lot of play
They can say “we are not giving up on the ACA but people were going hungry. We don’t support that For right now we had to get SNAP started again
That could be the message headed into the mid terms. At a certain point they deemphasise SNAP and start talking about ACA
Instead of attacking the Republicans that can focus on what they’ve done and will do
Now can they do that. Who knows
Good analysis of the current situation and policy matters. But the Democrats' REAL job at this point is to force the Republicans to take unpopular-with-voters stances, and to do so as close to the election as possible. Ruining Thanksgiving lost out to voting repeatedly against health insurance subsidies, which one or a couple more shutdowns next year could force.
A well crafted and informative piece that was fun to read.
A couple of points:
You stated
"And we also know that Trump is more politically savvy (and less ideologically stringent) than Thune or Johnson: just as he has moderated his party’s position on abortion and Medicare and Social Security cuts out of fear of being punished by voters, it wasn’t insane to think that Trump might see the very lopsided polling in favor of Obamacare subsides and tell Republicans to screw their principles and strike a deal.”
Actually it is/was quite insane. You clearly mis-read Trump, as is the wont of Dem supporting media, whether Legacy or otherwise, and their irritated AntiTrump supporters. Trump hates Obama , if from no other perspective than his ego. Of course ObamaCare is a mild disaster having failed to deliver on affordability and promises to provide insurance for the majority of uninsured Americans. ( The numbers initially went from 30 plus million uninsured to mid-teens only to creep above 27 million under Biden. The increase in the cost of medical insurance and care are primarily the result of a level of middle-men created and financed by the financialization crowd which increase costs as the middle men distributors dip their beak repeatedly). Moreover once air travel and feeding the poor became stark realities Trump was required to dig in and win.
AS to Mass Rep(D) Seth Moulton , he’s down 50 points to Markey, who even a Lesser Kennedy could not defeat. He’s no measure of what will happen, only of political expediency and desperation. But your point is well taken-How will the generational divide in the Dem party play out? An accomodation between the Left/Youth wing and the Elders or an internal bloodbath that negatively impacts the races in ’26 and ’28. Based on 50 years of Dem party history it’s reasonable (not insane?) to expect the latter.
Finally, as to January’s political landscape. Please remember that Trump is in charge and is the biggest wild card factor. Next to Ukraine which, thanks to the neocon con men and women , is highly likely to be an even greater conflagration as the EU and Zelensky press for evermore ammo and guns and death to avoid a Russian invasion of Europe( which makes no sense-the West wants Russia’s natural resources, the Russians just want a buffer between them and the neocon West).
This fully predictable Democratic rout on election day was achieved on their home court. If they had lost ANY of the races it would have been astonishing,
But where’s the fun if you can’t bouy your flagging and fragmented party faithful with a bit of (insane?) optimism ?
My understanding is that the unaffordability of the ACA was due to stripping out of the mandate that required all Americans to have health insurance. When that was removed healthy young people tended to forgo health insurance entirely. In other words the pool of people buying the insurance was sicker thus driving up premiums. As originally designed it would have been quite affordable. It's pretty clear by now that the only solution is either a return of the mandate or some version of socialized medicine.
I'd like to know Gabe's take on the "mild disaster" you identify. Perhaps he's with you on that and didn't 'misread' Trump on poling issues.
As always, the historical perspective and current analysis is so valuable and informative, Gabe, thank you.
Thank you for this!
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania
Votes to reopen the government.
Great piece! Refreshing (as long as I don't think about Johnson smirking or Trump 'dancing').
Why isn't there a shutdown every 3rd month that would allow the out of power party participation!!
I believe the shutdown contributed to the Dems having a good election night last week. It showed voters that Dems were willing to fight, at least for awhile. We can't discount that. That's a win the shutdown helped to achieve.
Trump always wins. TAW
ETTD. Figure it out.
Aloha . From the COCONUT WIRELESS .............................. Call them. Make it clear where you stand.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D–IL) (202) 224-2152
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D–NV) (202) 224-3542
Sen. John Fetterman (D–PA) (202) 224-4254
Sen. Tim Kaine (D–VA) (202) 224-4024
Sen. Angus King (I–ME) (202) 224-5344
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D–NV) (202) 224-6244
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D–NH) — (202) 224-3324
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